MAD

~ Chapter 8 ~

Zach laid in bed, looking at the ceiling as Rebecca breathed deep and softly next to him, having fallen asleep hours before. It was almost dawn, the sky had lost its dark color and the stars were starting to disappear.

"How does she do this to me still?" he mumbled to himself, bringing one hand to rub at his head as the other rested over his heart.

Even after leaving the discotheque, he could not get out of his mind the way she looked while dancing, her hands tangled in her hair and her hips swaying with the beat, the way she sang along to each and every song, the way she licked her lips and kept glancing his way, quickly averting her eyes the moment she saw him looking her way. He could not get his mind off the way she averted her eyes every time he was next to Rebecca, the way she would look like she'd been hit in the gut from the inside.

He had to admit that seeing her close to Michael made him feel in some sort of way that he didn't like at all. The way his heart would clench and his gut would twist. He didn't like the way his hand was brushing her skin, the way she would blush when he whispered in her ear and the way she laughed, resting her head on his chest to control the tremors running through her body.

"Goddamnit Maddeline, you devil woman..." he said, louder than intended, startling Rebecca in her sleep, making her turn turn and rest her head on his chest, making it almost impossible for him to escape the bed without her noticing.

A few minutes passed and the sun started to shine bright and he could hear noise around the house. He automatically knew it was Nate, the guy could never sleep past sunrise, saying it was a waste of vitamin D his skin could be absorbing, the little freak.

Zach thought of all the times he and Maddeline would be in bed, cuddled together and were woken up by Nate's morning habits. He remembered they would move closer together, Maddeline would slip one of her legs between his and pull the cover up to her nose before tucking her head under his chin, laying lazy kisses on his exposed neck and collarbones as he slid one arm around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, burying his nose on her hair and kissing the top of her head.

He kept reminiscing those times they would stay up at night, window open and covers tight around them, bodies pressed together, souls intertwined and everything was as perfect as they could have possibly imagined.

A groan and a kiss on his chest brings him back to the present, where a still sleepy Rebecca was looking up at him.

"Good morning babe."

"Good morning Becca..." he mumbled.

"Have you been awake for long?" she asked, getting up from the bed looking for her shoes.

"A little, I was just thinking about some stuff." He shrugged, still lying down.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Rebecca looked concerned with her boyfriend.

"No, everything is fine." He shrugged yet again. "Just some old memories that still haunt me." Admitted Zach, as he sat on the bed, resting his head on his hands.

Rebecca moved around the room for a little while before informing Zach that she was going to have something to eat with the boys, leaving Zach alone once again with his thoughts.

A melodic laugh bounced of the walls of the house, making Zach believe he was having hallucinations, but then Rebecca's laugh joined the one that had been playing in his mind for years and he knew that it was not a hallucination after all and that Maddeline was, in fact, in the kitchen, having breakfast with everyone else.

Quickly getting up, Zach put on a shirt and stumbled out of the bedroom, hitting his head on the way out. Approaching the kitchen, the laughter he craved so much to hear resonated again, making a small smile appear on his lips before he could catch it.

"Good morning Zach!" greeted Michael, who was sitting next to Maddeline, stealing food from her plate, making Zach's smile vanish.

"Morning." He grumbled, taking the only empty seat, next to Nate. "What's for breakfast?" he asked the boy?

"Whatever you make yourself." Nate laughed, taking a spoon of cereal to his mouth, eyeing Zach from the corner of his eyes.

Zach kept glancing Maddeline's way, trying to exterminate Michael with his eyes, he couldn't stand the sight of him touching Maddeline so much, it was disturbing.

A bowl of cereal was placed in front of him, making him move his eyes from the pair across the table. Rebecca was smiling down at him, looking as beautiful as ever, with her hair down, framing her face, and one of his t-shirts on.

"Thank you." He said as he pulled her down on his lap and proceeded to kiss her shoulder before starting to eat.

"So, Maddie!" Rebecca called, making Zach cringe at the nickname, knowing Maddeline wasn't fond of people she barely knew calling her that way either.

"Yes, Becky?" Maddeline smiled in their direction, smacking Michael's hand as he tried to steal more of her food.

Zach was shocked, he had not expected for her to answer back without a warning Rebecca about the nickname.

"When are you and Michael going to admit you're together?" she asked, making everyone look at her with wide eyes. Gabe spit out the coffee he had just drank, Zach chocked on a piece of cereal and Nate simply looked away. "Come on, it's kind of obvious, you spent all night glued to each other, you slept here, in his room... Just admit it already." She concluded.

Throwing her head back, Maddeline laughed, loud and sincere, making Zach's stomach flip and his heart accelerate. He lived for moments like this, when she would laugh so hard tears escaped her eyes and she ran out of breath and started to laugh silently, her body shaking and no sound coming out of her parted lips.

Aside from the sound of Maddeline's deep breathing to recover from the laughter, there was no sound on the kitchen. Everyone was staring at Maddeline, waiting for an answer.

"Oh Becky, darling, you got it all wrong." She finally said.

"What do you mean?" asked a very confused Rebecca, passing her arm around Zach's shoulders and moving on his lap to get a better view of Maddeline.

"We're friends. All of us. I can guaranty you that I've slept in the same bed as all of them, as in brothers do. Actually, Gabe was there too..." she said, looking down at her hands and mumbling something inaudible, but Zach knew it was about him, more precisely about their less than brotherly relationship.

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Author's Note:

So, because I'm in a good mood and had the chapter finished, I though... Why not?!

Hope you enjoyed it, if you did don't forget to vote and to comment!

Thank you.

Besitos,

Jessy.